Choreography of the Stars
by Electrorobo
Summary: After many generations of peace, youma once again threaten the safety of Earth. New Senshi rise to combat the threat, but will the crumbling politics of the New Silver Millennium support them in their efforts?
1. Make Up! A Rebel Princess?

**Chapter 1: Make-Up! A Rebel Princess?**

The sun poured down from a cloudless blue sky, and the buildings glistened in the light. The streets were filled with people, all bustling about cheerfully. It was a gorgeous day in Crystal Tokyo, and the residents would have it no other way.  
>Walking aimlessly through it all was a small girl, a pale blonde with rosy cheeks. She carried under her arm a colorful tote bag, and her light blue eyes darted around with a sort of mischievous excitement.<p>

"You do realize that if they catch you, we're both going to be in a mountain of trouble, yes?" A small grey head wrestled its way out of the top of the tote bag, aiming a glare at the girl carrying it.  
>"Of course I know, Loki." The girl looked down at the annoyed feline. "It won't be the first time. Besides," she looked back out into the crowd with a smile on her lips, "you haven't exactly been stopping me. Some guardian you are."<br>"I'd be a lot better at my job if you'd start listening to me and quit shoving me in this bag," Loki quipped. "I still want to know why you insist on doing that."  
>"Well, look at me. Do I look any different from any other girl wandering around shopping right now?" Loki tilted his head quizzically.<br>"Not exactly, no." He squirmed in an attempt to give himself a little more room inside the bag. "But I fail to understand how that answers my question, Airi." She grinned more.  
>"No, that exactly answers your question! I need to look like everyone else. And if I had you following me around or sitting on my head or something, everyone would know who I was." She glanced down at the bag. "And get back in there, you! I never said you could come out!"<p>

Despite all appearances, Airi was not exactly as normal as she would appear. She had to be careful. By now, it was almost certain that the guards had been sent out to hunt her down, but such was the end to all of her days out on the town. She only wanted a couple more hours, really, just to check out a few more of the shops. That was all, really. After that, she would be more than happy to head back and tune out the inevitable lecture. Maybe.  
>Glancing from side to side, she slipped through an opening in the crowd and entered a small clothing shop off of the sidewalk. Browsing through the racks, she thoughtfully put a finger to her lip. She had been looking for the perfect top to match her new skirt for the past hour, maybe here...<br>Suddenly, the door to the shop burst open. Airi's eyes darted to the door, and she cursed under her breath. Quickly, she grabbed the first article of clothing within reach and darted for the dressing room before she could be identified.

"Small Lady! Small Lady, stop right there!" Too late. She had been caught. She stopped in her tracks, heaving a heavy sigh. The other customers of the shop whispered amongst themselves, stealing glances at the recently-identified princess as discreetly as they could manage. Airi placed the shirt she had picked up on a nearby rack, sighing again as she noticed that it probably would have gone perfectly with the skirt. Of course. She walked over to the guard sulkily.  
>"You just<em> had <em>to make it obvious, didn't you?" The guard merely gave her a stern glance and she gave another sigh. "Whatever. You found me. Let's just head back."  
>"Your mother will be furious with you, Small Lady." The guard turned to the door. "Where is your guardian? She will not be pleased that he has allowed this sort of behavior from you again-"<br>"In the bag. Where else?" Loki shifted around inside the bag, making small, pathetic mews and trying his best to feign being trapped. "Come on, let's just go back."

The walk back to the palace was miserable as always. Airi did her best to tune out the seemingly endless lecture from the guard and to ignore the stares from passers-by. Really, she failed to see how her little outings were so "dangerous." The worst part about any of it was everyone staring at her like she was some sort of freak show, not that she could somehow get hurt.  
>As if she really would. Crystal Tokyo had been peaceful ever since she could remember, and as far as her history lessons had told her, for countless generations past. She had no reason to worry. She was invisible among a crowd- or at least she had been- and even if she was identified, the royal family's position was secure. She had nothing to worry about.<br>Not that her mother would hear any of that, of course. Airi could just envision the screaming the minute she set foot in front of her queen mother-how her behavior was "unfitting for a princess," how she was "jeopardizing everything," everything she'd heard a million times and had completely stopped caring for. She'd never asked to be born a princess, and she certainly didn't want to be treated like one.

"-dy! Small Lady! Are you even listening to me?" Airi glanced up from the ground to look at the guard and was somewhat surprised to discover she'd somehow managed to miss that they'd already made it to the palace gardens. She glanced around, trying to see if she could pick up some context as to what the guard had been saying from her surroundings. All that was in the gardens were some gardeners, the plants, and the small children tugging at the skirts and pant legs of the workers.  
>"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She made half an attempt at sounding personable now. It wasn't worth getting into even more trouble for poor treatment of the guards.<br>"I said, her highness is waiting for you inside. I will escort you in if you are ready."  
>"If I'm ready?"<br>"She was in a particularly foul mood when we were sent out to look for you in the first place. I doubt it's improved much since, Small Lady."  
>"Oh. Well, thank you for your concern, I suppose." She sighed. "I'm as ready now as I'll ever be. Let's go." She trudged after the guard through the large double doors of the palace and into the sparkling hallways.<p>

Not long after the doors out to the gardens slid shut, the was a loud noise from outside, followed by what sounded like some sort of large animal.  
>"What was that?" Airi turned on her heel and looked back to the doors. "Did you hear that sound?"<br>"I did," the guard responded, glancing over his shoulder nervously. "As guardian to the royal family, I should go check out the situation. Please, proceed on to your mother, Small Lady. Please don't leave her waiting." Airi watched as the guard ran back to the door. As he opened it, she could hear shrieks coming from outside. She looked back to where she had been heading, briefly considering continuing onward as ordered. Shaking her head slightly, she dropped her bag on the ground and began running after the guard.

"Ow!" Loki stumbled out from the tote bag, steadying himself as he walked. "Where do you think _you're_ going, 'Small Lady?' And what makes you think you can just _drop_ me like that?"  
>"Sorry," Airi said, stopping momentarily in her tracks. "I forgot you were in there. But you heard that too, didn't you? I can't just stay in here! There's something out there!" With that, she turned and continued running towards the door.<br>"That's exactly _why_ you should stay in here, and- argh!" Loki bolted after her. "Why do you never listen to me?"

Airi grabbed the door just before it could slide shut again and peeked out from between the cracks. Where before there had been nothing but flowers and children playing was a large wolf-like creature, bearing its fangs at the frightened workers.  
>"What is that thing?" Airi whispered breathlessly. "Is that what they call a-"<br>"Youma! Get back!" Loki called, batting at Airi's leg frantically as the creature tilted its head back, mouth filling with a strange sort of light. Airi pulled back from the door, letting it close just as the monster fired whatever it had been readying. She winced as she heard screaming from outside.  
>"Youma? How can it be a youma? Those haven't shown up in hundreds of years!"<br>"I don't know, but I can't think of anything else it could be!" Loki turned to look down the hallway as the sound of footsteps came racing towards the door. "Looks like everyone else has noticed, too."  
>"They'd have to be <em>dead<em> not to!" Airi moved quickly away from the door as a squad of guards stormed town the hall towards the door. "I hope everyone is okay out there..."

Following after the guards was the sound of much gentler footsteps, of heels against the perfect flooring. Airi flinched unwittingly at the sound. A woman with light, rose-tinted hair ran around the corner, clutching at her long, flowing white gown.  
>"Mother, I-" Airi began quickly, not even sure what she was going to say.<br>"Not now! Can't you see there are more _pressing_ matters now?" The queen snapped at her daughter as she continued toward the door, and Airi clutched her arms. "Get away from the door and hide yourself!" The queen grabbed at the door handle and Airi ran towards her bag, scooping it up as she darted down the hallway. Towards what, she wasn't certain, but she continued running anyway.

She found herself not long later in a room full of pristine glass cases, full of portraits and heirlooms from regents past.  
>"She tells you to hide and you run into a room full of glass?" Loki panted from the doorway, flopping slightly against it. "<em>Brilliant<em>, really!"  
>"Shut up, Loki, I'm thinking!" Airi dropped her bag again, rubbing at her eyes. "There has to be <em>something<em> I can do, there _has_ to be..."  
>"Like what? Come on, Airi, let's just hide somewhere. The guards can handle it, I'm sure, they've been trained-"<br>"Don't tell me that! You saw that thing, too!" Airi exhaled sharply. "They can't... not on their own!" She glanced desperately around the room, her eyes finally resting on a small, round object in its own case.

The brooch was old, certainly, and it showed its years, but it was unmistakable. The brooch of the legendary creator of the great peace, the legendary queen. Airi dropped to her knees before it, clasping her hands and bowing her head.  
>"Please... oh great queen, oh <em>anyone<em>, I... I've never done this before, but if you can hear me..."  
>"What are you <em>doing<em>?" Loki made his way up to her. "I told you, let's just _hide!_" Airi merely sat there, trembling as she clenched her hands even tighter.  
>Suddenly, the brooch gave off a bright light, and before Airi could even register what was going on, she felt herself almost enveloped in it. The words came to her, in a voice much unlike her own but somehow still coming from her lips.<br>"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!"

She had no idea what happened next. It was a mixture of feelings like she'd never felt before, and her heart felt almost like it was going to explode. The feelings ebbed away almost as quickly as they had come, and when she opened her eyes again she was wrapped in clothing she only ever remembered seeing in her books.  
>Loki had backed away from her and was looking at her with wide eyes.<br>"Did you just-?"  
>"I- I don't-" Airi shakily stood. "It doesn't matter! I have to help them!" Muttering what sounded like a quick 'thank you,' she turned and ran towards the door.<br>"W-wait! Wait! _Airi!_" And with that, the two were bolting back towards the garden doors, neither of them sure of what was going to happen next.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note:<em> Erm... well. This is interesting. To be honest, I haven't written fan-fiction in about 5-6 years, so this has really been an interesting experience for me.  
>I hope Airi doesn't come off as too much of a Mary-Sue! It's quite difficult... I'm trying to write a new Sailor Moon into existence, and <em>how<em> do you do that without making her seem too perfect? I don't know. I have plans to make her and her actions a bit more realistic, but we'll see where this goes.  
>Anyway, I'll stop talking now. This chapter is too long already. x_x<p> 


	2. Battle! Perils of the Pretty Guardian

**Chapter 2: Battle! Perils of the Pretty Guardian**

"Airi! Airi! _Airi!_" The grey cat continued yelling as he sprinted after his ward. "What do you even intend to _do_ once you get out there? You have_ no _idea how this works! We don't even know what just _happened!_"  
>"I don't know and I don't care!" Airi called back, continuing her mad dash for the garden doors. "I have a million words in my head right now and I'm sure one of them will do <em>something!<em>"  
>"Normally, when people listen to the voices in their head, we call them <em>insane<em>, not _heroes! _Please, can't we just think about this?" But it was already too late, as Airi had already grabbed the door handle and thrown it open.

The gardens were strewn with the bodies of workers and guards alike. Some were conscious and some didn't appear to be, but from the looks of it, no one was too badly injured. Airi breathed a quick sigh of relief before darting out into the gardens herself, not initially noticed amidst the chaos. Before she could think about what she was going to do from here, the words once again bubbled out of her throat in a voice that didn't belong to her.

"For love and justice, I am the sailor-suited pretty guardian, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"  
>The eyes of those who were still conscious drifted back to her, wide and frightened. The youma's eyes, trained on her as well, and its lips formed a sick imitation of a smile as it bore its fangs once more. After a moment of readying itself, it began charging towards her. Letting out a cry of fright, she ran out of the way as quickly as her legs would carry her.<p>

A female voice cried out unintelligibly from somewhere in the crowd of people. Airi didn't waste time in trying to identify it, and instead continued running out of the path of the youma. "What are you doing?" The voice was closer this time, and more recognizable. Airi froze momentarily in her steps.  
>"Mother! Mother, are you all right?" Airi called out, not taking her eyes off of the youma and readying herself to dodge again. Suddenly, there was a strong grip on her arm, and her mother was standing beside her.<br>"Me? Don't worry about _me_, save yourself! Get back inside! Send more guards if you want to help, but get out of here!"  
>"No!" Airi shook her head, pulling her arm from her mother's grasp. "I was granted this power by our ancestors, so I can help! I <em>need<em> to do this!" Before she could continue arguing, the youma was charging at them once more. Grabbing her mother's hand, Airi darted out of the way, pulling the older woman along with her as she ran across the gardens. As she ran, she felt her mother's hand slip out of her own, and heard the older woman shriek. Turning on her heel, Airi was horrified to see the youma pinning her mother down, snarling at her.  
>"Get away from her!" Airi cried as she ran forward, shoving at the much larger youma with all the strength she could muster. "Let go of my mother, you monster! Let her go! Let her g—" With that, the monster swatted her away with the leg she'd been shoving at, sending Airi flying backwards. She landed a few feet away in a flowerbed and sat up as quickly as she could, pressing a hand to her forehead.<br>"Run! Just get out of here! Listen to me, for once in your life, _please_, get back inside!" The queen yelled, before giving another frightened cry as some of the youma's saliva dripped onto her. "Please, just go hide!"

Airi readied herself to stand and charge forward once more, disregarding her mother's pleas, but froze. What good would it do her to charge the beast again? If she ran inside, she would be wasting the power granted to her, but what good were these mythical powers if she had no idea how to use them? She felt tears welling in her eyes. There had to be something she could do, some last-ditch effort...  
>She mentally thought over what she had on her. Throwing a shoe at the wolf wasn't likely to make any impression, gloves even less so, and what good were the bows? As she thought, she began to notice the presence of something on her forehead— it had been there the whole time, she was sure, but only now did it occur to her to actually notice it. She quickly ripped the tiara off her forehead and gave it a quick once-over.<br>It certainly looked somewhat sharp, and if all else failed, the youma did look like some sort of dog, right? So maybe, just maybe...

She forced herself to stand, readying the tiara in her hand. She briefly felt something warm in her palm, but didn't take much heed of it as she hurled the tiara forward with all of her strength.  
>To her surprise, what left her palm was not the small metal object she had been staring at just moments prior, but a golden disc of energy. The youma looked up suddenly from the queen, eyes widening as it let out a roar of what sounded like it might be fright. The disc made contact with the beast and seemed to dig into its flesh for just a moment before the beast was enveloped by the same golden light. When the light faded, the youma was gone, and the tiara dropped quietly to the ground beside the queen. Airi fell to her knees, panting heavily with widened eyes.<br>"What... what just happened?" She whispered to herself. As suddenly as the tingling sensation had come when she had transformed before, it came once more as Airi was changed back into the clothing she had been wearing before. As the light of the transformation faded, Airi's eyes went dull and she fell over into the flowerbed, unconscious.

When she opened her eyes again, it took her a moment to adjust to her surroundings. She quickly came to the conclusion that she was in her bedroom, and only then did she register the faces hovering above her own. She sat up quickly, frightened, only to feel a wave of dizziness pass over her.  
>"Don't do that," her mother scolded, pressing on her shoulder to lower her back down onto the bed. "You've done enough damage already, young lady." Airi tried her best to suppress a grimace as the harsh tone of her mother's words cut into her. There was no way she was getting out of a lecture now, not after what had just happened. Loki, sitting on the opposite side of her, merely stared down at the sheets and remained silent.<br>"Mother, I— I'm sorry, really, it's just—"  
>"Sorry? <em>Sorry<em>, Usagi?" Airi visibly winced at the usage of her true name. "Do you know how hurt you could have gotten? Do you know how sick I've been for these past few hours, Usagi? And 'sorry,' '_sorry' _is all you have to say for yourself?"  
>"Mother, please, I—"<br>"You could have gotten yourself killed out there! It's bad enough that you seem to think that you _must_ defy me by running off on your own, but to come out and try to take that thing on your own? You're a_ princess_, Usagi, not a warrior, and not some average girl! You are my only heir! I can't have you putting yourself into danger like this!" Airi blinked at the tears forming in her eyes, glaring up at her mother.  
>"I killed it, didn't I? I killed the youma, and I saved you! What, did you really expect me to just let you die out there? I was scared, too!"<br>"If you were so frightened for my well-being, then why don't you ever think about that when you run off on your little excursions?" The queen countered, face flushing in anger. "I sit here worried sick about you getting hurt or something awful happening, but you don't care then, do you?"  
>"I keep telling you, I'm not going to get myself hurt! Just now was the first time anything dangerous has happened in hundreds of years, and you know it, too! Besides, I bring Loki with me, I don't know what the problem is—"<br>"And some guardian _he_ is!" Loki flinched, turning his head even further from the fight between the two women. "I didn't see him protecting you out there, and I've never seen him stop you from running off on your own!" The queen clenched at her dress. "You are a _princess_, Usagi, not some commoner! I refuse to allow you to put yourself in danger like this! What if something had happened to me out there, with you pulling that little stunt and trying to get yourself killed? Who would be there to take the throne then?" She gritted her teeth as Airi looked away, trying to hide her tears. "Don't look away from me, Usagi! I am your _mother_, and— and—oh, for the love of everything that is holy, why don't you ever _listen_ to me?"  
>"I— I—" Airi choked for a minute before sitting up again, swatting at her mother's hand when it moved to push her down again. "No!<em> I <em>was the one who killed the youma!_ I _was the one that our ancestors granted the power to defeat it! Why can't you accept that? Why do I have to listen to _you_? What about listening to _me?_" The queen rose suddenly from her chair at those words, knocking it over in her fury and not even bothering to right it.  
>"I'm done with your selfishness, Usagi!" she yelled, turning on her heel and exiting the room, slamming the door behind her.<p>

Airi fell back on the bed, rolling on her side and hiding her face to the pillow as she let out a ragged sob. After a minute or so of her crying, Loki moved to gently paw at her back.  
>"Airi... Airi, please, stop crying like that..." Suddenly, Airi rolled over quickly and violently, startling Loki.<br>"Why should I? And who are you to tell me stop crying? You didn't even try to help me!" Tears streamed down her face and her eyes were red and puffy.  
>"I— Airi, how am I supposed to help you against her? I can't defy her, you know that!" Loki's paw hovered for a moment from touching Airi before, and he gently set it down with a hurt look on his face. "You know I want to, but if I help you, I'd be banished for sure. You were just lucky enough to be asleep when she was threatening me before." Loki looked down. "You're not the only one who was given the third degree, y'know." Airi was quiet for a moment, then curled herself into a tighter ball and continued to sob, softer this time. Loki looked at her sadly for a moment before moving closer, nuzzling his cheek against her arm. "C'mon, Airi... stop it..."<br>"Why?" Airi said quietly, a few moments later. "I killed the youma, didn't I? And she's still not proud of me. Why can't I ever be good enough for her?"  
>"Because she worries about you, Airi," Loki answered softly. "You're her only daughter, the only chance she has. She's just not good at showing it, that's all."<br>"Well, I didn't ask for it," Airi responded in a petulant tone. "I never wanted to be the only princess. I never even wanted to be like the legendary Senshi."  
>"Which is probably a good thing," Loki countered, jokingly and with almost a sad smile on his features. "Because you looked ridiculous in that costume." Airi looked up at him, agitated, and Loki just laughed. "It still looked like it was meant to fit whoever wore it last, that's all! If that's what you'd look like every time, be glad you're not really a Senshi. It clearly isn't for you."<br>"You're mean, Loki," Airi answered, although a smile graced her lips as she moved a hand to rub at her tears. "You're not supposed to say things like that to a girl."  
>"Yeah, well. I call 'em as I see 'em," Loki quipped, tilting his head to the side. "But still. If it makes you feel any better, <em>I'm<em> proud of what you did out there. I was scared you were going to get yourself killed, to be honest."  
>"I love how much faith you have in me," Airi responded, laughing a bit. "But thank you."<br>"Welcome. Anyway," Loki moved a paw to poke at Airi's cheek, "you should get some more rest. I don't want you passing out again, and you're going to have a massive headache later with all the crying you've been doing. I don't want to deal with it."  
>"Yeah, whatever," Airi said as she pulled the covers up over her head. "If you insist. 'Night, then."<p>

Meanwhile, in the queen's chambers, the queen had set herself on the bed and was dabbing furiously at her eyes with a tissue.  
>"I— I don't— I don't understand why she doesn't listen to me," she said, voice cracking. "I'm her mother, right? She should... I— what am I doing wrong?" Her shoulders shook violently, and she buried her face in the tissue. "What am I doing wrong?"<br>"Perhaps, your highness, if I may," a voice spoke softly from the corner of the room, "it would have been wise of you to let her know you were happy that she was well. I'm sure it may have helped."  
>"I— yes, you're right, but—" The queen sobbed again, clenching at her dress with one hand. "I— maybe they're all right, Shakudo." The man was silent and moved to retrieve another tissue. "Perhaps I am the downfall of the kingdom. My husband's left me, my own daughter refuses to acknowledge me, and now—" She took the tissue from her adviser's hand without thinking as she sobbed again. "Youma. They haven't— Usagi was right, it's been hundreds upon hundreds of years, and I—" With that, her voice broke entirely as she fell into a desperate sobbing. Shakudo rested his hand upon her shoulder gingerly.<br>"Calm yourself, your highness. Everything will work itself out."  
>"How can it?" The queen whispered hoarsely. "How can anything work itself out from here?"<br>"I don't know, but it will, Lady Serenity," Shakudo said, softer still. "It will. You just have to trust me."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note<em>: And, again, a really long chapter. I just like having my characters talk too much, that's all...  
>Airi's a bit of a spoiled brat, isn't she? Oh, well. I do enjoy writing Loki and Shakudo (the queen's adviser, if it wasn't clear), at least. I just like advisers and servants, I guess...<br>Well, I'll be quiet now. I hope you enjoy!


	3. Freedom? The Jupiter Family Arrives

**Chapter 3: Freedom? The Jupiter Family Arrives**

It had been a couple of days since the youma had appeared. By the looks of things around the palace, nothing had ever happened. There were still a couple of trampled plants in the garden, but those would be gone by the end of the day at the very longest.  
>Airi wasn't entirely surprised. After all, her mother had told her time and time again the necessity of keeping up appearances. Still, the sheer number of servants bustling about the castle was beginning to grate on her nerves- how was she ever supposed to get out with people coming in and out of every door at all times?<p>

"I hate this," Airi sighed, flopping back on her bed with her legs still hanging over the sides. "If things keep up like this, I'm _never_ going to be able to get out again."  
>"That's probably the point, you know," Loki quipped, hopping up on the bed beside her. "It amazes me how quickly you forget being screamed at for leaving at all. Especially considering what just happened."<br>"Yeah, but there's nothing to _do_ in here!" Airi kicked her legs slightly in annoyance. "I mean, I'd even kill for _homework_ to do at this point, but I did all of that already, too!"  
>"Well, that's new." Loki sat down beside Airi's head and just watched her, twitching his tail from side to side. Airi glared up at him, a small pout on her face, before sitting up and giving another sigh. She paused for a moment, then glanced back at Loki. "Hey... I was thinking..."<br>"Also new."  
>"Loki, you're so mean." Airi screwed her face up into another pout, then turned to look at the floor again. "But, I... what do you think's going to happen from here, Loki?" She turned back again, drawing one of her legs up onto the bed and gripping it.<br>"What do you mean, what's going to happen?" Loki stood and trotted closer to Airi. "You have to know it's not just gardeners coming in and out of here. They've been working on some sort of plan ever since."  
>"Mm. It's just... you've seen the books, right?" Loki nodded. "The only thing that's ever defeated a youma is a Sailor Senshi. Right? And they don't really exist anymore, right?"<br>"Unless we missed anything huge, yes, and save your crazy little stunt, no, they don't." Loki paused to lick at one of his paws, and Airi couldn't tell if it was in boredom or in thought. "I... I don't really know, either. I wish I had an answer for you, but they keep me out of the loop just as much as they keep you out."  
>"You would think you'd sneak around and eavesdrop or something. Some cat you are."<br>"I'm not a cat, Airi. We've been over this." Loki set his paw down. "I'm Mauan."  
>"You're slinky and fuzzy and you look like a cat to me." Airi sighed, putting down her leg and flopping back once more, causing Loki to jump back. "Sorry," she murmured, rolling over on her side to face away from him. Loki muttered something about not believing her apology as he licked at his paw again, fixing the fur he had messed up by moving like that. "This is all really confusing, though. The youma thing, I mean, not you being a cat." There was a slight pause as Airi pursed her lips slightly. "Confusing and boring."<p>

A few minutes later, with Airi starting to drift off and Loki still grooming himself, there came a soft knock at the door. Airi grumbled as she sat up, turning to look at the door as she tried to fix her hair with one hand.  
>"What is it?"<br>"Small Lady, your presence is requested in the throne room."  
>"Did Mother say what it was about?" She pulled out one of her ponytails, deciding it was too messed up to fix, and reached for a brush.<br>"You have a visitor." Airi froze mid-brush and looked over at Loki, who merely looked back and tilted his head.  
>"I'll be down in a moment." Quickly, she finished brushing out her hair and put the ponytail back up. She jumped up and moved for the door, Loki following after her.<p>

Airi pushed open the doors to the throne room and walked in, glancing around. Her mother had taken her place on the throne and was visibly calmer than the last time Airi had spoken with her. By her side was a woman of similar age in a long green dress, her brown hair pulled up.  
>"Shinobu-mama!" Airi gasped, a smile breaking across her face as she recognized the other woman. "I haven't seen you in forever!" Shinobu only smiled as Airi entered the room further. Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps behind her, and Airi didn't have time to react before someone or something jumped on to her, arms wrapping tightly about her neck in a hug.<br>"Usa~!" Airi relaxed a bit as she recognized the voice from behind her. Moving her head a bit to look back, she smiled again. The figure clinging to her was a girl about her age, although a bit taller, with bright green eyes and brown bangs that poked out under the hood of the jacket she was wearing. "Chikara! What are you guys doing here?"

"Usagi, Chikara," Shinobu interrupted with a smile on her face, "While it's lovely to watch your little reunion, could you come here, please? We'd like to talk to the both of you." Chikara let go, sighing as she fake-stomped up to her mother. Airi followed after her, quietly.  
>"Lady Shinobu and I have made some decisions," Queen Serenity started, carefully, "that I am hoping will... pacify you, Usagi." Airi's expression changed to one of confusion. "In light of the recent reappearance of a youma, I am still worried for your safety."<br>"That said," Shinobu began, "I have convinced her that it is in your best interest to be let outside on your own, as you please."  
>"Really?" Airi couldn't contain her excitement at what she had just heard.<br>"More or less," Serenity interrupted quickly, lacing her fingers together nervously. "I still don't want you out there alone."  
>"But I bring Loki," Airi countered. "I always bring Loki."<br>"What she means to say is that we're entrusting you to Chikara," Shinobu took over. "It may not be perfect freedom, but we thought you wouldn't mind too much."  
>"You mean..." Airi looked back and forth between the elder women and her friend. "You're staying?" Chikara grinned widely in response as her mother simply nodded.<p>

Queen Serenity bowed her head for a moment, then looked at her daughter with a level gaze.  
>"You would still have a curfew, and you would not be permitted to leave her side, but..." She paused for a moment. "Is this to your liking, at least?" Airi blinked and looked back to her mother.<br>"Yes. Yes, this is fine, Mother." Airi smiled a little. "Thank you." A small smile fluttered across the queen's lips for a moment before she quickly regained her serious demeanor.  
>"So it is, then. Now, if you two will excuse us, Lady Shinobu and I have more serious matters to discuss." The two girls nodded and turned to go, Chikara grabbing Airi's wrist.<br>"Come on," the green-eyed girl whispered, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Let's go talk in your room or something. You _have_ to see what I did with my hair." With that, the two girls took off. Loki, who had been quiet the whole time, moved to follow them again.

"Loki, wait," the queen said softly. "I need to speak with you briefly."  
>"Yes, your highness?" Loki said, quickly turning to face the queen.<br>"It is more important now than ever that you keep her safe," she said softly. "You understand this, yes?"  
>"Of course, your highness." Loki bowed his head slightly.<br>"Good." Serenity paused for a moment, seemingly thinking over her words, before she spoke again. "I... please take care of her." She looked away quickly. "You may go." Loki nodded, bowing his head deeper before running off after the two girls.

As Airi led Chikara up to her room, her mind was racing. The Kino family had been close with hers for as long as she could remember, but they had only met up once a year at best. While something in the back of her head told her that matters must have been more serious than she understood if Shinobu and Chikara were staying, she was too excited about the prospect of having them around to really care.  
>As they walked in, Airi moved to close the door again. Loki's small grey body darted through the crack just before the door could close, and Airi froze for a moment, frightened before she registered that it was just Loki.<br>"Oops. Sorry, Loki," she said, closing the door. "I didn't realize you were following us." Loki whipped his tail back and forth and simply moved to go sulk in the corner. Meanwhile, Chikara hurriedly moved to pull back her hood.  
>"Usa, look! Look!" She moved her arms excitedly to attract Airi's attention. Airi looked over, and was shocked to see green streaks throughout her friend's hair, as well as a green and black striped chunk of hair falling by her right ear. "Highlights and extensions! Aren't they cool?" She twirled around. "Mama made me wear a hood so I wouldn't upset Queen Serenity, but aren't they just <em>awesome?<em>"  
>"Shinobu-mama let you <em>do<em> that?" Airi said breathlessly. "My mother would just up and die if I did something like that."  
>"She said I might as well get it out of my system now." Chikara grinned. "And it's cause my mama's awesome, Usa. You know that."<p>

"Ah," Airi started, "Speaking of that. Chikara, would you mind calling me 'Airi' from now on?" Chikara was quiet for a brief moment, and tilted her head in confusion.  
>"Airi? But you're Usa. You've always been Usa."<br>"Yeah, but... I just don't want to have the same name as every other Tsukino has had for the past _forever_, you know? It... this whole 'Usagi, you're a princess, not a normal teenager' thing... I'm done with it. You know?" Airi sat on the bed, propping her cheek on her hand.  
>"Mm. Well, the queen will always be the queen, y'know? And you're always gonna be the princess." Chikara bit her lip. "At least you can actually leave now, right? But... if it makes you happy, I'll try to call you that from now on." Airi smiled.<br>"Thanks."  
>"No problem, U- Airi." Chikara's eyes widened at her slip up, then she burst out laughing. "Oh, this is going to take me <em>forever!<em>"  
>"It's fine, it's fine!" Airi laughed as well. "Just so long as you try, y'know?" Chikara nodded. Airi was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall. Her eyes widened and she jerked her head up as she thought of something, turning back to her friend. "Hey, Chikara? Where's your dad? Did he come, too?"<br>"Dad? Nah, he's back at our castle sorting some things out. He said it was more important that Mama and I come when we got the Queen's message, and that he'd be here as soon as he could." Chikara shrugged. "Someone's gotta run the place, right?"  
>"Yeah." Airi smiled a bit, then fell quiet again and stared into space past Chikara. After a few moments of this, Chikara became annoyed by her friend's silence. She bent her head down to invade Airi's line of sight, eyes wide and intense to mock Airi's unblinking stare. Airi, shocked as she suddenly noticed Chikara there, jumped a bit.<br>"You blinked! I win!" Chikara sat back, laughing again. "Seriously, what's with you? You keep getting all quiet on me."  
>"Things are just... weird, I guess," Airi responded, laughing as well. She put her hand to the back of her head sheepishly. "I mean... oh, who cares about that right now, really?" Her eyes lit up again and she jumped forward to cling to Chikara, much like what had been done to her earlier. "This is going to be so awesome!" Chikara hugged Airi back, grinning widely.<br>"That's more the spirit! Hey," Chikara started, pulling back, "Wanna go check out the room they're putting me in? If they have all of my stuff in already, I've got more cool stuff to show you." With that, the two girls were on the move once more, disregarding any worries lingering in the backs of their minds.

Back in the throne room, the queen and the Lady of Jupiter spoke to one another quietly.  
>"Have you heard back from any of the others?" Shinobu asked, resting her back against a wall near the throne.<br>"Yes and no," Serenity responded, not looking up. "Mizuno and Hino responded, but they seem like they're in no hurry to get here. Aino hasn't answered, as usual." Shinobu made a soft noise in response, then looked up in thought.  
>"I haven't seen any of them in forever. Last I heard from them was when they sent out the announcement that they had daughters."<br>"Aino had a daughter?" Serenity looked up. "I hadn't been informed..."  
>"Yes, about a year before Chikara was born... you mean to say she never told you?"<br>"No, never." Serenity sighed. "I'm not entirely surprised. I was never exactly her favorite."  
>"That's true." Shinobu bit the side of her lip. "You'd think they'd all be more concerned, though. Youma... are we even remotely prepared for this? We haven't seriously trained any sort of army in who knows how long, and as far as I know we haven't any Senshi we can actually call in to fight." She looked back at the queen.<br>"That's what's been worrying me the most," Serenity sighed. "When that creature appeared, Usagi... she said the ancestors had granted them her power, and she was wearing the uniform. I don't know what it means, but I don't like it."  
>"Usagi?" Shinobu's eyes widened. "You should have told me earlier! That's..." She sighed. "Maybe the others are right. There isn't anything we can do now but wait, is there?"<br>"No, there isn't." Serenity inhaled sharply, as if trying to steady herself. "I'm afraid, Shinobu."  
>"So am I." Shinobu crossed her arms and sighed deeply, looking down at the tiled floor. "Believe me, so am I."<p>

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note:<em> Really long, fairly boring chapter. I apologize, but I'm trying hard to find a balance between the complicated mess of relationships in my head and writing it down so that it's enjoyable. More exciting things will happen next chapter, I promise!  
>Also, if any of you could be so kind as to leave me a review and tell me how I'm doing, I would be eternally grateful! I really do want to know if my characters are likable and if I'm doing an okay job at telling a story...<p> 


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